Tax-EEEEEEZE! by Cynth'ya Lewis Reed
Last edited: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Posted: Monday, July 21, 2008
Need to ease the choke hold around your neck as a business person...or as a plain ol' regular person? It's not what you make that makes a difference, but how well you can change with the times.
From the newsletter article: "Making Tax Deductions Work For You." (Topic: Travel Expenses. Excerpt by Scott Turner, CPA (Resource: The Tax Times, 2008, News Publishing, Inc. West Linn, Oregon 97068, USA www.newspub.biz for reprints of entire newspaper.
…recommended by RTA leaders affiliated with Team Spectrum and Success Team Vision.
Scott Turner operates a practice of public accountancy in the San FranciscoBay Area. He graduated from Cal-StateUniversity in 1979 and was subsequently recruited by all of “The Big Eight” accounting firms of the 20th century. He chose to work for KPMG, the largest worldwide firm, until 1981 when he became certified and opened his own practice. He also served as the Director of Tax Consultation Services for the nation’s second largest employee benefit provider. With over 20 years of experience working with small business owners and highly-compensated individuals, Turner has assisted thousands of people in obtaining their best overall tax position. . . below are his statements on:
Travel.
CLUE: For travel agents, travel is 100% of their business involvement. Passing out a card, asking someone about where they enjoy visiting or spending time, any conversation about travel whether a family reunion in the town next door, a class reunion, a church trip, a trip to the florist or card shop or a sporting event. . . sightseeing, going to the airport to pick someone up, even a rail trip….whether it’s one mile or a thousand miles away, and weekend getaways to test the temperature of the hot tub or checking out Disney to get the kids and Grandma’s opinion can constitutes and potentially qualify for activity as a travel agent. . .not to mention all the perks.
One important factor before reading the following and looking for a solid, home-based business is this: Online businesses are up and running 24/7 all day, every day IF worked for as little as 15 minutes/day. And when on trips, all of the time we spend on vacation (or Pay-cation) is business.
“We’re spending more on travel and pleasure than ever before as a country. This is a great opportunity for home-based business entrepreneurs to convert what would normally be vacation expense into deductible business expenses.
‘The way the law is written’ says Turner, ‘it’s actually quite easy to turn a vacation into a business trip.’ It only takes a bit of strategizing ahead of time. When planning your trip, make sure you spend more than 50 percent of the total number of days on business. (Four or more hours of work constitutes a business day.)
Turner relates the following example: You begin your trip to Florida on Wednesday, to return the following Thursday. Wednesday counts as a business travel day, then on Thursday you do some prospecting and go to a meeting that night, again totaling more than four hours. That’s a second business day. You spend Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday having fun with family. The following Wednesday is spent on business and Thursday you travel home, which are your third and fourth business days. Because you did business in the same city on the weeks that sandwiched a weekend, you also count Saturday and Sunday as business days.
That gives you six business days out of nine (you only need five) and so the whole trip is deductible! Also, if you have your spouse and children as employees, their expenses may be deductible as well. Ask your tax practitioner for advice to make sure you can properly plan to get the most deductions possible.”
Three great “tax deductible” books for business owners about deductibles.
Always check with your tax professional on the following. Auto mileage as of July 1, 2008 increased deductible is $0.58 per mile.
Below are a list of current available Deductions on Schedule C include: Advertising (business cards and car signs included); Bad debts from sales/services; Car and truck expenses; Commissions and fees (for trainings, overhead, memberships, etc.), Cost of goods sold; Depletion; Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction; Employee benefit programs (except pension and profit-sharing--you CAN legally employ your children from age 6 years to 18 years--allowance becomes wages!); Expenses for business use of your home; Insurance other than health (and YTB has health insurance available for brand new RTAs low as $25/week); Interest (mortgage paid to banks, other), Legal & professional services (includes professional development from conferences and conventions); Office expenses (the ink cartridges in your printer and the paper you use, postage stamps and trips to the post office, etc); Pension and profit sharing plans; Rent or lease (vehicles, machinery, equipment and other business property); Repairs and maintenance (Got a home business? Your yard needs cutting, pay your kid to cut it as an employee); Supplies, Taxes and licenses (if your business is an LLC, for example); TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL meals and entertainment; Utilities; Wages (less employement credits); Other, and many more that a qualified Tax Pro can help you find.)
The first thing to do is,"CLICK HERE" and fill out the online form that will calculate the tax savings that you can potentially experience by owning a Home-Based Travel Business with YTB. This tax calculator was prepared by Accounting & Business Consulting, LLC to help you determine the kind of tax advantages that are available to you as a home-business operator. You will soon see that this represents a RISK FREE investment guaranteed by the tax laws passed by Congress and imposed by the IRS! As a matter of fact this will show you that by joining YTB - It Is aReturn In Investment. (The Ladies of Team Vision represents a group of Travel Professionals not Tax Professionals so we encourage you to consult a CPA. The survey was put together by Accounting & Business Consulting, LLC. We do have a list of CPA's we recommend if you would like to speak further with a CPA.)
